News from Latin America

O Boticario has decided to enter the nail enamel category, which, according to the Brazilian Association of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (Abihpec), grew 49% in 2010. In September, the company began supplying its 3,000 stores with a limited edition, five color collection manufactured in France. Products integrate the spring-summer makeup collection of Make B. Infinite.

Sol de Janeiro—a Brazilian sun care brand owned by the American adman Marc Capra and a diverse group of investors, including the former global marketing director for Unilever—was developed specifically for use along the Brazilian coast.

To promote the brand, Capra and company is taking a road trip in a Volkswagen van throughout Brazil. The journey has included stops on the beaches of Ceara in the Northeast region of the country, after passing through São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. The idea is to launch the brand, little by little, in the main cities of the coast, into pharmacies and surfer’s shops, through displays that show its differentiated line. It targets the young and differentiated public, with its special products such as a protector for tattoos and a colorful lip protector, as well as shampoos, body gels and oils.

Brazil is the fastest growing market among the 160 countries where Nivea is available. According to Nicolas Fischer, president of BDF Nivea in Brazil, the company needs to focus on categories that have potential for growth and sunscreen is one of them. Only 40% of consumers buy the product regularly. This market currently has sales of more than $750 million a year.

Emerging countries, such as Brazil, already account for nearly 20% of Beiersdorf’s annual sales. Another initiative will be to customize certain products as well as strengthen distribution in the country.

Jose Guma, based in Cordoba, Argentina, is launching the Duc line of soaps, body creams, shampoos and conditioners in Brazil. According to commercial director Silvana Guma, the company intends to compete with the large premium brands in the industry. Duc products are on sale in several Latin American countries, among them Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba and Guatemala.

Natura has selected GenSight’s project portfolio management application to improve efficiency and product development. GenSight, with offices in the UK and the US, is a leader in integrated software for new product development and portfolio management.

Natura is the leading direct seller of cosmetic and personal care products in Brazil. Its portfolio encompasses 1,200 SKUs and an aggressive schedule of more than 160 product launches every year. Natura was recently named one of the 10 most innovative companies in the world by Forbes.

Cremer has acquired the assets of Topz Cosmeticos, a cosmetics and toiletries maker, for about $46 million. Topz had sales of $44 million.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategy of increasing business competitiveness, expanding our product portfolio in the retail segment and expanding our platform of personal hygiene products,” according to a Cremer spokesperson.

Topz’s brands include Topz, Salvelox and Salveped, which are manufactured in Jaguariuna. In the past four years, Topz has tripled its portfolio of cosmetics products and now offers products in 15 distinct categories targeted to women, men and children.

Brazilians with low incomes use more toiletries than wealthier consumers in the country. According to Nielsen, the number of low-income households that bought mouthwash, for instance, grew 42% between January and March of this year. Today, the product is present in 1.7 million of these households, almost the same number of homes as in the upper 40%.

Low-income consumers are also purchasing more fragrance. According to Abihpec figures, during the past five years, the percentage of homes which have fragrance rose from 66% to 85%, compared to 90% of homes in the top 60%.

The Dow Chemical Company and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. have formed a biopolymer joint venture aimed at providing innovative and sustainable product solutions to the global high-performance flexible packaging, hygiene and medical markets. This represents the world’s largest biopolymers play and is Dow’s largest investment in Brazil, a country in which Dow has operated successfully for more than 50 years.

“This landmark move underscores Dow’s commitment to invest for growth in high-value, innovation-rich sectors through strategic partnerships,” said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. “It also combines the strengths of two global companies, creating the unique combination of world-leading technology and renewable feedstocks to meet needs in an important, rapidly growing region of the world. This is right on strategy for Dow and supports our 2015 sustainability goals.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Mitsui would become a 50% equity interest partner in Dow’s sugar cane growing operation in Santa Vitória, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The initial scope of the joint venture includes production of sugar cane-derived ethanol for use as a renewable feedstock source, bringing new, biomass-based feedstocks to Dow while diversifying the company’s raw material streams from traditional fossil fuels.

When complete, Dow and Mitsui will have the world’s largest integrated facility for the production of biopolymers made from renewable, sugar cane-derived ethanol. The project aligns with Dow’s goal of developing low carbon solutions to meet the world’s pressing energy and climate change challenges.

The operation should be completed before the end of 2011, and is subject to regulatory approvals. No financial details were disclosed.

Brazil recently became the 34th country to join ISO/TC 217, the committee that coordinates the worldwide normalization of toiletries, perfumes and cosmetics as part of the International Standardization Organization (ISO).

Since 2004, Brazil participated in the group’s meetings as an observer member. As a participating member of the committee, Brazil earns the right to actively participate via CB 57 of Cosmetics of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards – ABNT. The CB57 is coordinated by Abihpec.

According to Abihpec, the next challenge is to expand Brazil’s presence in other groups making international decision, such as International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation, which brings together the European Union, the US, Canada and Japan.

Sueli Ortega has written for Isto É and O Estado de São Paulo. Since 1987, she has served as a correspondent for Cosmetics International. In addition, she created the beauty channel for El Sitio, an Argentinean website and the Women Channel.

She has her own website, Cosmeticos BR and can be reached at [email protected]